-V/ 




U 



LB 41 




/ n 


.H4 




If. i> 


Copy 1 




f 






Cfjoujljts 011 €'hicatioiu 




THE 




INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE 




DELIVERED BEFORE THE 




AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION 




• 

AT ITS 




FOURTH ANNUAL SESSION, HELD IN WASHINGTON IN DECEMBER, 1854. 




BY 




JOSEPH HENRY, LL. D., 




SECRETARY OF SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 




HARTFORD: 




PRESS OF CASE, TIFFANY AND COMPANY. 




M.DCCC.LV. 



^H Xt*. f*,iAUAO/. 



^hl 6 IbK 






I. INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE 



THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION. 



BY JOSEPH HENRY, LL. D. 



No subject of Imman tlioiiglit has perhaps received more attention 
than that of education. Every one has the material for specuhitino; 
in regard to it in his own experience ; but individual expei'ience is 
too limited a basis on Avhich to found a general theory of instruction, 
and besides this, paradoxical as it may appear, an individual is per- 
haps less able to judge correctly of the effects of the course of instruc- 
tion to which he has been subjected than another person. No one 
can tell what he would have been under a different course of training, 
and the very process which he condemns may perhaps have been 
the one best suited to develope the peculiarities of mind which 
have led to his success in life; and indeed in some very rare in- 
stances the want of all training of a systematic kind may be the best 
condition imder Providence for p)i"oducing an entirely original chaa-- 
acter. Shakespeare's genius might have been shackled by the 
scholastic curriculum of Oxford or Cambridge ; but these cases are 
extremely rare, for genius itself, like the blossoms of the aloe is the 
solitary production of a century. 

I bring forward my own views on education witli diffidence. First, 
because I have read scarcely any thing on the subject, and wliat 
I shall say may be considered common-place ; seeondl)^, because my 
views may in some respects be at variance with what are regarded 
as the established principles of the day. But important truths 
cannot be too often presented, and when re-produced by diffei-ent 
minds under different circumstances they can scarcely fail to awaken 
new trains of thought and renewed attention ; and again, if the pro- 
positions which I maintain are erroneous, I desire that they may be 
discussed and disproved before they are given more widely to the 
public. What I shall advance may be viewed as suggestions for 
consideration rather than propositions adequately proved. 

In the establishment of a principle it is of the first importance.-that 
all probable suggestions relative to it may be subjected to critical 
examination, and tried by the test, as fiir as possible, of experience ; rt 
is in this way that science is advanced. 



18 INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. 

The first remark whicli may be made in regard to education is, that 
it is a forced condition of mind or body. As a general rule it is 
produced by coercion ; at the expense of labor, on the part of the 
educator, and of toil and eflbrt on the part of the instructed. That 
there is no royal road to learning, is an aphorism as true now as it 
was in the days when first uttered. God has placed a price on that 
which is valuable, and those who would possess a treasure must earn 
it at the expense of labor. Intellectual as well as material wealth 
can only be purchased at the price of toil. It is true the child may 
be induced to learn his task by the prospect of reward ; by emula- 
tion ; by an appeal to his affections ; but all these, in some cases, are 
ineffectual, and recourse must be had to the stimulus of the rod. I 
do not by this remark intend to advocate a general recoui-se to cor- 
poreal coercion. It should be used sparingly, perhaps only in ex- 
treme cases, and for the purpose of eradicating a vicious habit. The 
philosophy of its use in this case is clear. We associate pain with 
the commission of an improper act and thus prevent its recurrence. 

I have said, that education is a forced condition of mind or 
body. The child, if left to itself, would receive no proper develop- 
ment, though he might be surrounded with influences which would 
materially affect his condition. The savage never educates himself 
mentally, and were all the educational establishments of the present 
day abolished, how rapidly would our boasted civilization relapse 
into barbarism. 

Another important fact is, that every generation must educate and 
give character to the one which follows it, and that the true progress 
of the world in intelligence and morality consists in the gradual im- 
provement of the several generations as they succeed each other. 
That great advance has been made in this way, no one can doubt 
who views the facts of history with an unprejudiced mind ; but still 
the improvement has not been continuous. There have been various 
centres and periods of civilization. Egypt, Greece, and Rome, 
though they have left an impress upon the world which extends 
even to our time, and modifies all the present, have themselves 
" mouldered down." It appears, therefore, that civilization itself ]nay 
be considered as a condition of unstable equilibrium, which requires 
constant effort to be sustained, and a still greater eflbrt to be 
advanced. It is not, in my view, the manifest destiny of humanity 
to improve by the operation of an inevitable necessary law of pro- 
gress ; but while I believe that it is the design of Providence that man 
should be improved, this improvement must be the result of indi- 
vidual eflbrt, or of the combined eflbrt of many individuals, animated 



EDUCATION. 



19 



by the same feeling, and co-operating for the attainment of the saine 
end. The world is still in a degraded condition ; ignorance, want, 
rapine, murder, superstition, fraud, uncleanness, inhumanity, and 
malignity abound. We thank God, however, that he has given us 
the promise, and in some cases, the foretaste, of a happier and holier 
condition, that he has vouchsafed to us as individuals, each in his 
own sphere, the privilege, and has enjoined upon us the duty of 
becoming his instruments, and thus co-workers, in ameliorating the 
condition of ourselves, and our fellow men ; and above all, that he 
has enabled us through education to improve the generations which 
are to follow us. If we sow judiciously in the present, the world will 
assuredly reap a beneficent harvest in the future ; and he has not 
lived in vain, who leaves behind him as his successor a child better 
educated morally, intellectually, and physically than himself From 
this point of view the responsibilities of life are immense. Every 
individual by his example and precept, whether intentionally or 
otherwise, does aid or oppose this important work, and leaves an 
impress of character upon the succeeding age, which is to mould its 
destiny for weal or woe in all coming time. 

Civilization itself, as I have before observed, is a state of unstable 
equilibrium which if not supported by the exertions of individuals, 
resembles an edifice with a circumscribed base, which becomes the 
more tottering as we expand its lateral dimensions, and increase its 
height. Modern civilization is founded on a knowledge and applica- 
tion of the moral, intellectual, and physical laws by which Divine 
wisdom governs the universe. The laws of morality have been 
revealed to us, but they require constant enforcement and habitual 
observance. The laws of the intellectual and material universe have 
been discovered by profound study and years of incessant labor, and 
unless they are taught in purity, and freed from error, they fail to 
produce their legitimate result. But the illustration and enforce- 
ment of the laws of morality require the exertions of men of high 
talents and profound learning ; and a true knowledge of the laws of 
nature can only be imparted by minds that have long been devoted to 
their, study. Therefore a large number of highly educated men 
whose* voice may be heard, and whose influence may be felt, is abso- 
lutely necessary to sustain the world in its present moral and intel- 
lectual development. The world, however, is not to be advanced by 
the mere application of truths already known ; but we look forward, 
particularly in physical science, to the effect of the development of 
new principles. We have scarcely as yet read more than the title 
page and preface of the great volume of nature, and what we 



OQ INTKOUUCTOKY DISCOURSE. 

do know is iiotliiiii;; in comparison with that whicli may be yet mi- 
Iblded and applied ; but to discover new truths requires a still 
higher order of individual talent. In order that civilization should 
continue to advance, it therefore becomes necessary that special pro- 
vision should be made for the actual increase of knowledge, as well as 
for its diffusion ; and that support should be afforded, rewards given, 
and honors conferred on those who really add to the sura of human 
knowledge. 

This truth however is not generally appreciated, and the tendency 
is to look merely at the immediate results of the application of 
science to art, and to liberally reward and honor those who simply 
apply known facts, rather than those who discover new principles. 

From what we have said it would appear that in order that civili- 
zation should remain stationary, it is absolutely necessary that the 
great truths which have been established should not become diluted, 
obscured, or forgotten ; that their place should not be usurped by 
error, or in other words that the great principles of science, which 
have been established through long years of toil and nights of 
vigilance, should not be superseded by petty conceits, by hasty and 
partial generalizations, and by vague speculations or empirical 
rules. Farther, that civilization should not retrograde, it is indis- 
pensably necessary that the great truths of morality should not 
only be theoretically taught and intellectually apprehended, but 
activel}', constantly, and habitually applied. But this state of things 
can only exist by means of the efforts of individuals actuated by a 
generous, liberal, and enlightened philanthropy. Unfortimately, 
however, the tendency of civilization, fmm the increase of wealth, and 
security, is to relax individual effort. Man is naturally an indolent 
being, and unless actuated by strong inducements or educated by 
coercion to habits of industry, his tendency is to supineness and in- 
action. In a rude state of society an individual is de2>endent upon 
his own exertions for the protection of himself, his family, and his 
})r()perty ; but as civilization advances personal effort is less required, 
and he relies more and more on law and executive government. 
Moreover, as wealth and elementary education become more 
general without a corresponding increase of higher instruction, the 
voice of the profound teacher becomes less and less audible ; his 
precepts and admonitions less and less regarded ; he is himself 
obliged to comply with popular prejudices and conform to public 
opinion, however hastily formed or capricious such an opinion 
may be. Hence the tendency to court popular favor, to be in- 
fluenced by it, rather than attempt to direct it. Hence charlatanism 



EDUCATION. 21 

and th(j various dishonest attempts to gain notoriety rather than a 
true re2:>utation, so frequently observed. Knowledge has arrived at 
such a stage of advancement that a division of labor in regard to it 
is necessarjr. No one can be learned in all the branches of human 
thought ; and the reputation of an' individual therefore ought to 
rest on the appreciation of his character by the few, comparatively, 
who have cultivated the same field with himself. But these are not 
generally the dispensers of favor, and consequently he wdio aspires to 
wealth or influence seeks not their approbation ; but the commenda- 
tion and applause of the multitude. It is impossible that those who 
are actively engaged in the business of life should have time for 
profound thought. They must receive their knowledge, as it were, 
at second-hand ; but they are not content under our present system 
of education with the position of students, they naturally aspire to 
that of teachers ; and every one who has learned the rudiments of 
literature or science becomes ambitious of authorship, and a candidate 
for popular applause. Knowledge in this way becomes less and less 
profound in proportion to its diftusion. In such a condition of 
things it is possible that the directing power of an age may become 
less and less intelligent as it becomes more authoritativ'e, and that 
the woi'ld may be actually declining in what constitutes real, moral, 
and intellectual greatness, while to the superficial observer it appears 
to be in a state of rapid advance. I do not aflirm that this is the 
case at present. I am merely pointing out tendencies. 

The present is emphatically a reading age ; but who will venture 
to say that it is proportionately a thinking age ? The sum of posi- 
tive knowledge is embraced in but few books, and small would be 
the library necessary to contain the essence of,all that is known. 
We read too much and too quickly to read understandingly. The 
world is gorged with intellectual food, and healthful digestion is 
comparatively unknown. Too many books are published ; I do not 
mean to say that too many standard luorks are printed, but by far 
too many silly, superficial and bad books are sent forth from the 
teeming press of our day. The public mind is distracted amidst a 
multiplicity of teachers and asks in vain for truth. But few persons 
can devote themselves so excliisively to abstract science as fully to 
master its higher generalizations, and it is only such persons who are 
properly qualified to prepare the necessary books for the instruction 
of the many. I cannot for a moment subscribe to the opinion which 
is sometimes advanced that superficial men are best calculated to pre- 
pare popular works on any branch of knowledge. It is true that 
some persons have apparently the art of simplifying scientific prin- 



22 



INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. 



ciples ; but in the great majority of cases this simplification consists 
in omitting all that is difficult of comprehension. There is no task 
more responsible than that of the preparation of an elementary book 
for the instruction of the community ; and no one should embark in 
such an undertaking who is not prompted by a higher motive than a 
mere love of notoriety, or the more general incentive, a hope of 
commercial success. He should love the subject upon which he in- 
ii'iids to write, and by years of study and habitual thought, have 
become familiar with its boundaries, and be enabled to separate the 
true and the good from that which is merely hypothetical and 
plausible. 

In this connexion I may mention the evils which result from 
literature and science becoming objects of merchandize, and yet not 
amenable to the laws of trade. I allude to the international copy- 
right system. The tendency of the present condition of copyright 
law between England and America is greatly to debase literature, 
to supply cheap books, and not to impart profound wisdom or sound 
morality. English books are republished in this country and 
American books are reprinted in England, because they are cheaj'), 
and not because they are good. Literary and sciei;tific labor must 
I)e properly remimerated, or the market will be supplied with an 
inferior article. The principles of free trade are frequently im- 
properly applied to this question. The protection required and de- 
manded by the literary man is not that of a premium on his work, 
but the simple price which it ought to bear in the market of the 
world. lie asks that the literary product of the foreigner may be 
paid for in order that justice may be done his brother, and also that 
he himself may reoeive a proper remuneration for his own labors. 
Would there be any manufactories of cloth, think you, in this coun- 
try, if the tailor had the means and inclination to procure free of 
cost all the material of the garments which he supplies to his 
customers? And can it be supposed that valuable literary works 
will be produced among us, so long as our publishers are allowed to 
appropriate, without remuneration, the labors of the foreigner ? The 
want of an international copyright law has, I know, produced a very 
unfavorable effect upon higher education in this country. It has 
prevented the preparation of text-books better suited to the state of 
education among us than those which are re-published from abroad, 
and adopted in many of our institutions of learning. 

Another result of the wide diffusion of elementary knowledge, with- 
out a proper cultivation of the higher intellectual faculties, and an in- 
culcation of generous and unselfish principles, is the inordinate desire 



EDUCATION. 23 

for wealth. To acquire power and notoriety in this way requires the 
least possible amount of talents and intelligence, and yet success in 
this line is applauded even if obtained by a rigid application of the 
dishonest maxim tliat " all is fair in traded We have a notable 
example of this fact in the autobiography of an individual who 
glories in his shame, and unblushingly describes the means by which 
he has defrauded the public. No one who has been called upon to 
disburse public money can have failed to be astonished at the loose 
morality on the part of those who present claims for liquidation. 
The old proverb here is very generally applied, namely, " the public 
is a goose, and he is a fool who does not pluck a feather !" A full 
treasury, instead of being considered a desirable or healthy state of 
the nation, should be regarded as the precursor of a diseased con- 
dition of the public morals. That the tendencies which I have 
mentioned do to a greater or less extent exist, and that they re- 
quire the serious consideration of the enlightened statesman, and the 
liberal minded and judicious friend of education, must be evident to 
every one who seriously and withotit prejudice observes the habits 
of the times. 

The proper appreciation of profound learning and abstract science 
is not as a general rule what it ought to be. The most authoritative 
teacher is the editor of a newspaper. Whatever may have been his 
previous training, or however circumscribed his field of thought, he is 
the umpire to decide upon all questions even of the most abstract 
science or the most refined casuistry. 

The question may be asked with solicitude — Are the tendencies 
we have mentioned inevitable ? Are there no means of counteract- 
ing them ? And is our civilization to share the fate of that of 
Egypt, Greece, and Rome ? Is humanity destined to a perpetual 
series of periodical oscillations of which the decline is in proportion 
to the elevation ? We answer. No ! Though there have been 
oscillations, and will be again, they are like those which constitute 
the rising flood-tide of the ocean, although separated by depressions, 
each is higher than the one which preceded it. Something may 
have been lost at intervals; but on the whole more has been and will 
be gained. But how is this to be effected ? The man of science antl 
literature, the educator, and the christian teacher, together with the 
enlightened editor, must combine their efforts in a common cause, 
and through the inffuence of the press, the school, the college, and 
the pulpit send forth a potential voice which shall be heard above 
the general clamor. 

Common school or elementary education is the basis on which 



24 INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. 

tlie superstructure of the plan of true progress should be established ; 
but it must be viewed in its connection with a general system, and 
not occupy exclusively the attention and patronage of governments, 
societies, and individuals ; liberal means must also be provided fur 
imparting the most profound instruction in science, literature and 
ai't. 

In organizing new states and territories, the amplest provision 
ought to be made for all grades of education ; and if possible, every 
individual should have the opportunity offered him of as much 
mental culture as he is capable of receiving or desirous of acquiring. 
Notwithstanding comparatively few may have the industry and 
perseverance necessary to the highest attainment. It is also of the 
hrst importance, that modes of instruction be examined and thoroughly 
discussed, in order that what is valuable in the past should be re- 
tained, and what is really an improvement in the present, be judi- 
ciously and generally applied. 

Having presented some general suggestions in regard to the 
bearing of education, and the ^ftbrts of individuals on the progress 
of humanity, I now propose to offer for consideration a few observa- 
tions on the theory of the process of instruction. 

It may seem strange that the theory of an ai't so long practised as 
that of education should not be definitely settled ; but strange as it 
may appear, the fact is certain, that few writers fully agree as to 
what is the true plan and process of education. No art can be per- 
fect unless it rests n2:)on a definite conception of fundamental ]M-in- 
ciples, or in other words, unless its theory be well established upon 
a general law of nature. The laws which govern the growth and 
operations of the human mind are as definite, and as general in 
their application, as those which apply to the material universe ; 
and it is evident that a ti'ue system of education must be based ujioii 
a knowledge and application of these laws. Unfortunately^ how- 
ever, psychologists have not classified and exhibited them in a 
form sufficiently definite to render their application easy, and the 
directors of education have too often considered merely the imme- 
diate practical result which might follow a particular course of 
training, rather than that which would be conducive to the highest 
development of the individual. In this condition of the theory of 
education, I have myself ventured to speculate upon the subject, and 
though I may have nothing new of value to ofter, it is my duty at 
this time to make such suggestions as may furnish topics of discus- 
sion, or serve to illustrate established truths. 

The theory which T would present for your consideration, and 



EDUCATION. 25 

critical examination, and whicli appears to me to be in accordance 
with the results of experience, may be briefly expressed as follows : 

The several faculties of the human mind are not simultaneously 
developed, and in educating an individual we ought to follow the 
order of nature, and to adapt the instruction to the age and mental 
stature of the pupil. If we reverse this oi-der, and attempt to culti- 
vate faculties which are not sufficiently matured, while we neglect 
to cultivate those which are, we do the child an irreparable injuiy. 
Memory, imitation, imagination, and the faculty of forming mental 
habits, exist in early life, while the judgment and the reasoning 
powers are of slower growth. It is a fact abundantly proved by 
observation that the mere child, by the principle which has been de- 
nominated sympathetic imitation^ may acquire the power of expres- 
sing his desires and emotions in correct, and even beautiful language 
without knowing, or being able to comprehend, the simplest princi- 
ples of philology. He even seizes, as if by a kind of instinct, upon 
abstract terms, and applies them with ease and correctness. But as 
life advances the facility of verbal acqiiisition declines, and with 
some it entirely disappears. Hence the plan appears to me to be 
wise, and in accordance with nature, which makes the acquisition of 
language an essential part of early elemental education. The same 
child *which acquires almost without effort his vernacular tongue 
may by a similar process be taught to speak the principal ancient 
and modern languages. He may also acquire the art of the 
accountant, and be taught by proper drilling to add long columns of 
figures with rapidity and correctness, without being able to compre- 
hend the simplest abstract principles of number and magnitude. 
Moreover, it is well known that the memory may be stored at a 
very early age with valuable rules and precepts, which in future life 
may become the materials of reflection, and the guiding principles 
of action ; that it may be furnished with heroic sentiments and 
poetic illustrations, with " thoughts which breathe and words that 
burn," and which long after, will spontaneously spring up from the 
depths of the mind, at the proper moment, to embellish and to en- 
force the truths of the future author, statesman, or divine. 

But the period of life, when acquisitions of this kind are most 
readily made, is not that in which the judgment and reasoning- 
powers can be most profitably cultivated. They require a more ad- 
vanced age, when the mind has become more matured by natural 
growth, and better furnished with the materials of thought. 

Mental education consists in the cultivation of two classes of 
faculties, viz., the intellectual and the moral. 



26 INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. 

Intellectual instruction, of which we shall first speak, should have 
at least three objects : — 

1. To impart facility in performing various mental operations. 

2. To cultivate the imagination, and store the memory with facts 
and precepts : and 

3. To impart the art of thinking, of generalization, of induction 
and deduction. 

The most important part of elementary mental insti-uction, and 
that which I have placed first in the foregoing classification, is that 
of imparting expertness in the performance of certain processes 
which may be denominated mental arts. Among these arts 
are spelling, reading, penmanship, drawing, composition, expert- 
ness in the first rules of arithmetic, and in the use of difft^rent 
languages. These can only be imparted by laborious drilling on 
the part of the teacher, and by acquired industry and attention on 
the part of the pupil. The practice in each case must be so long 
continued, and the process so often repeated, that it becomes a men- 
tal liabit, and is at length performed with accuracy and rapidity 
almost without thought. It is only in early life, while the mind is 
in a pliable condition, that these . mental facilities can most readily 
and most perfectly be acquired, while the higher principles of science, 
on which these arts depend, can only be thoroughly understood by a 
mind more fully matured. Expertness in the performance of an art 
does not depend on a knowledge of its' principles, and can be re9.dily 
acquired without reference to them. The most expert accountants 
are frequently, and perhaps generally, those who have no knowledge 
of the philosophy of figures. On the other hand, a profound ac- 
quaintance with the principles of an art may exist without the 
ability to apply it in practice. I have known of mathemati- 
cians who were unable to perform with accuracy and dispatch the 
processes which constitute the aj^plication of the simple rules of mul- 
tiplication and addition. The same is the case with the art of com- 
position. A most learned rhetorician is not necessarily a fluent and 
pleasing writer. 

The acquisition, therefore, of these arts should be the principal 
and prominent object of the primary or common school, and nothing 
ought to be sufi'ered to usurp their place. Unfortunately, the 
drilling which is at first required to induce the mental habit is so 
laborious and tedious to the teacher, and in most cases so irksome 
and distasteful to the pupil, that there is a tendency, and I am sorry 
to say in our schools a growing one, to neglect them, and to substi- 
tute other objects of more apparent, Init of less intrinsic value. 



EDUCATION. 27 

This is not only an irreparable injury to the individual, but also to 
the public. All the practical operations of life in which these pro- 
cesses are concerned, — and they apply to all except those of me^-e 
handicraft skill — are badly performed. I may venture to say that the 
general substitution of instruction in the mere rationale of the rules 
of arithmetic, without a proper drilling in the practice, would produce 
more bankruptcies than all the changes of tariffs or fluctuations of 
trade. 

It is an important principle, which should be kept in view by the 
teacher, that although the practice of an art is at first difficult, and 
requires at each step an effort of mind, yet every repetition rendei-s 
it easier, and at length Ave come to exercise it not only without 
effort, but as a pleasurable gratification of an habitual act. Per- 
severance therefore in this cause will ultimately receive a grateful 
reward. It should be impressed upon the minds of the directors 
of elementary education that the teacher who neglects to train his 
pupils to expertness in these processes, or who merely does enough 
in this way to awaken a distaste, and who fails to overcome this 
condition of mind by subsequent judicious driUing, is unworthy of 
his high vocation, and should give place to a more industrious or 
more philosophical instructor. 

All the processes we have enumerated, besides various manipula- 
tions and bodily exercises necessary to health, refinement and con- 
venience, may be taught previous to the age of ten or twelve years. 
At the same time the memory may be educated to habits of reten- 
tion and precision ; and, for this purpose definite, and if possible 
elegantly expressed rules should be' chosen, to be committed without 
the slightest deviation, and so impressed upon the memory that they 
will ever after remain a portion of the mental furniture of the man, 
always ready to be called up when needed, and always to be de- 
pended npon for accuracy. The mere understanding of the rule, 
and the power of being able to express it in a vague and indefinite 
way in original language is, in my judgment, not of itself sufficient. 
The memory is an important faculty of the mind, and is susceptible 
of almost indefinite cultivation. It should, however, in all cases be 
subservient to the judgment. 

Habits of observation may also be early cultivated, and a boy at 
the age of twelve years may be taught to recognize and refer to its 
proper class almost every object Avhich surrounds him in nature ; 
and indeed the whole range of descriptive natural history may be 
imparted previous to this age. 

Nothing, in my opinion, can be more preposterous or mischievous 



28 INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. 

than the proposition so frequently advanced, that the child should 
be taught nothing but what it can fully comprehend, and the 
endeavor in accordance with this to invert the order of nature, and 
attempt to impart those things which cannot be taught at an eai'ly 
age, and to neglect those which at this period of life the mind is well 
adapted to receive. By this mode we may indeed produce remark- 
ably intelligent children who will become remarkably feeble men. 

The order of nature is that of art before science, the entire con- 
crete first ; and the entire abstract last. These two extremes should 
run gradually into each other, the course of instruction becoming- 
more and more logical as the pupil advances in years. 

Thus far we have principally considered only the education of the 
habits and the memory, and it is particularly to these that the 
old system of drilling is peculiarly applicable. I know that this 
custom has, to a considerable degree, fallen into disuse, and the new 
and less laborious system of early precocious developement, been sub- 
stituted in its stead. In this respect the art of instruction among us 
has retrograded rather than advanced, and " Young America " 
though a very sprightly boy may fail to become a very profound 
man ! 

I would not, however, by the foregoing remarks have it inferred, 
that the reasoning faculties of the child should not receive due 
attention, and that clear conceptions of the principle of every pro- 
cess taught should be elucidated and explained, as far as he is able 
to understand them ; but that the habits and the memory should be 
the main objects of attention during the early years of the pupils' 
course. The error of tbe old system consisted in continuing the 
drilling jjeriod too long, and in not shading it off gradually into that 
of the logical, or what might be called the period of the acquisition 
and use of general principles. 

The last part of mental education as given in our classification i.s 
that which relates to the cultivation of the judgment and the 
reasoning powers. These faculties of the mind, as we have repeated- 
ly said, are latest in arriving at maturity, and indeed, they may be 
strengthened continually and improved progressively through a long 
life, provided they have been properly directed and instructed in 
youth and early manhood. 

They should be exercised in the study of mathematical analysis 
and synthesis ; in deducing particular facts in a logical form from 
general principles ; and instructed in the process of discovering new 
truths. The cultivation of the imagination should also be considered 
an essential part of a liberal education, and this may be spread over 



EDUCATION. 29 

the whole course of instruction, for like the reasoning faculties the 
imagination may continue to be improved until late in life. 

From the foregoing remarks it will be evident that I consider the 
great object of intellectual education to be, not only to teach the pupil 
how to think, but how to act and to do, and I place great stress 
upon the early education of the habits. And this kind of training 
may be extended beyond the mental processes to the moral prin- 
ciples ; the pupil may be taught on all occasions habitually and 
promptly, almost without thought, to act properly in any case that 
may occur, and this in the practical duties of life is of the highest 
importance. We are frequently required to act from the impulse 
of the moment, and have no time to deduce our course from the 
moral principles of the act. An indindual can be educated to a 
strict regard for truth, to deeds of courage in rescuing others from 
danger, to acts of benevolence, of generosity and justice ; or though 
his mind may be well stored with moral precepts, he may be 
allowed to fall into opposite habits alike prejudicial to himself, and 
to those with whom he is associated. He may " know the right, 
and yet the wrong pursue." 

Man is the creature of habit ; it is to him more than second 
nature; but unfortunately, while bad habits are acquired with 
readiness, on account of the natural desire to gratify our passions 
and appetites, good habits can only be acquired by unremitting 
watchfulness and labor. The combined habits of individuals form 
the habits of a nation, and these can only be moulded, as I have 
before said, by the coercive labor of the instructor judiciously 
applied. 

The necessity of early and judicious moral training is often re- 
ferred to, but its importance is scarcely sufficiently appreciated. 
The future character of a child, and that of the man also, is in most 
cases formed, probably, before the age of seven years. Previously to 
this time impressions have been made which shall survive amid all 
the vicissitudes of. life — amid all the influences to which the indi- 
vidual may be subjected, and which will outcrop, as it were, in the 
last stage of his earthly existence, when the additions to his 
character, made in later years, have been entirely swept away. In 
connection with this point, I may mention one idea which has 
occurred to me, and which I have never seen advanced ; but which, 
if true, invests the subject of early impressions with a fearful interest. 
The science of statistics shows that certain crimes which are com- 
mon in the seasons of youth disappear, comparatively, with advancing 
age, and re-appear again toward the close of life ; or in other 



30 



INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. 



words, that the tendencies to indulgences in disorders of imagina- 
tion, and habits which were acquired in the early life of a vicious 
youth, or one exposed to evil associations, thoi\gh they may be 
masked and kept in subjection by the judgment, and the influences 
of position and reputation during early manhood, middle life, and 
first decline, resume their sway, and close the career of the man who 
has perhaps for years sustained a spotless reputation, with ignominy 
and shame. How frequently do cases of this kind present them- 
selves ? I have now in my mind's eye an individual who for forty 
years was known and esteemed as a model of honor, purity and 
integrity, but who at the age of seventy committed a crime which 
consigned his name to infamy. Depend upon it, this man was sub- 
jected to evil influences in early life, and the impressions then 
made, though neutralized by the conditions and circumstances which 
afterwards surrounded him, were never eftaced, and when the latter 
ceased to produce their restraining effects, the former resumed their 
original sway. Pursuing this train of thought we would conclude 
that the child is not merely the father of the man, but more 
emphatically, the father of the old man ; that the term second child- 
hood has a more extended signification than that of the mere 
decline of the faculties. It also should convey the idea that the 
tendency of the dispositions and propensities of individuals is to return 
to the condition of earlier life. This principle is important also in a 
historical point of view. The aged, though they may forget the oc- 
currences of middle and after life, recall with vivid distinctness the 
impressions of childhood, and thus the grandfather with senile 
garrulity, transmits the history of his early times, as it were, across 
an intervening generation to his grandson. This again makes an 
indelible impression upon the plastic mind of his youthful auditor, 
to be alike transmitted to his children of the third generation. 
Abundant examples might be adduced to illustrate the proposition 
of the vivid recurrence of the effects of early impressions 
■ apparently effaced. Persons who have for long years been accus- 
tomed to speak a foreign language, and who have forgotten the use 
of any other, have frequently been observed to utter their dying 
prayers in their mother tongue. 

In this country, so far as I have observed, the course of education 
is defective in two extremes : it is defective in not imparting the 
mental habits or facilities which can most easily be acquired in early 
life, and it is equally defective in the other extreme, in not instruct- 
ing the student, at the proper period, in processes of logical thought, 
or deductions from general principles. While elementary schools 



EDUCATION. 

31 



profess to teach almost the wliole circle of knowledge, and nedect 
to impart those essential processes of mental art of which we have 
before spoken, our higher institutions, with some exceptions, fail to 
ux^part knowledge, except that which is of a superficial character 
The value of facts, rather than of general principles, is inculcated.' 
Iheone, however, is almost a consequence of the other. If proper 
seeds are not sown, a valuable harvest cannot be reaped 

The organization of a system of public education in accordance 
with my views would be that of a series of graded schools beginning 
wnh the one in ^v^lich the mere rudiments of knowledge are taught, 
and ending with that in which the highest laws of mind and mattei' 
are unfolded and appHed. Every pupil should have the opportunity 
of passing step by step through the whole series, and honors and 
rewards should be bestowed upon those who graduated in the highest 
school. Few,_however, as I have said before, would be found to%os- 
sess the requisite talent and perseverance necessary to finish a complete 
course But at whatever period the pupil may abandon his studies, he 
should be found fitted for some definite pursuit or po.sition in life 
and be possessed of the moral training necessary to render him a' 
valuable citizen and a good man. 

These are some of the subjects which I commend for discussion at 
the present meeting of the association. The great aim should be to 
enforce the importance of thorough early training and subsequent 
high education. It should be our object to bring more into repute 
profound learning, and to counteract the tendency to the exclusive 
diffusion of popular and mere superficial knowledge. We should 
endeavor to enlarge the pyramid of knowledge by symmetrical in- 
crements, by elevating the apex, and expanding the base always 
observing the conditions of stable equilibrium. 



019 847 498 8 



CONTENTS OF NUMBER I. 

OF THE 

AMERICAN JOUEML OF EDUCATION 



COLLEaE KEVIEW. 

Notice by Publisher, ------- iii 

Address by Editors, -.--.--v 

The American Association for the Advancement of Education. 

History of, - - - - - - - - 2 

Constitution of, ------- 4 

Journal of Proceedings of Fourth Annual Meeting, held in Washington , 
on the 27th, 28th, 29th and 30th of December, 1S54. By R. L. 
Cooke, Secretary, - . - . - . 9 

LECTURES, PAPERS AND DISCUSSIONS. 

I. Philosophy of Education. 

Introductory Address. By the retiring President, Joseph Henry, LL. D. 17 
Remarks on the same, by Bishop Potter, Prof. Bache, Dr. Proudfit 
and others, ------- 32 

II. Lecture on the Study of the Anglo-Saxon Language. 

By John S. Hart, LL. D., Principal of Public High School in Phila- 
delphia, .--..-- 33 

Remarks on the same by Bishop Potter, Prof Dimitry, Dr. Proudfit, 
Rev. M. Hamill, Prof Baclie, Dr. Stanton, Prof. Henry and others, GO 

III. Classical Education. 

By David Cole, Principal of Classical Academy, Trenton, New^ Jersey, 67 
Discussion on the same by A. Greenleaf, Bishop Potter, Z. Richards, 
Dr. Proudfit and others, - - - - - - SG 

IV. School Architecture. 

Plans and Description of the Public High School house in Philadel- 
phia. By John S. Hart, LL. D. - - - . 93 
Plans, -------- 94 

Remarks on the same by Prof Bache, Dr. Proudfit, Mr. Barnard 
and others. - - - - - - -100 

V. Practical Science. 

An Account of a visit to the office of the United States Coast Survey, 103 

VI. Discipline, Moral and Mental. 

By Z. Richards, Principal of Union Academy, Washington, - 107 

VII. Education among the Cherokee Indians. 

By William P. Ross. - - - - - - 120 

VIII. School Government. 

By Rev. Samuel M. Hamill, Principal of Academy, Lawrenceville, 
New Jersey, ...---- 123 

IX. Plan of Central Agency for the Advancement of Education in 

the United States. 
By Henry Barnard, Hartford, Ct., - - - - - 134 

The American Journal op Education and College Review is editeJ by Absalom Peters , 
D D , and Henry Barnard, LL. 1)., and published by N. A. Oalkin.i, 348 Broadway, New York. 



\ 



jr'JRARY OF CONGRESS 

019 847 498 



Hollinger Corp. 
pH 8.5 



